I Expected to Come Home, but Home Was Now Somewhere Else
Returning home after living abroad felt different than I had anticipated.
The best five months of my life took place in Beijing, China during my exchange abroad.
I got lucky, since the uni was in the middle of closing new partner deals with schools in China, and I was right on it. I spent around one year preparing everything for this grand journey. Visa, documents, insurances, vaccinations, all of it. My intentions and goals beforehand were clear:
- To get my university credits
- Study the language
- Learn about the culture through immersion and weekend trips
- Take dance classes
This made deciding what to do with the limited time there easy. Since it was already decided, there were no trade-offs to make.
I remember the day clearly when I left my home country to live on the other side of the world for five months. How indecisive I was when stuffing my suitcase and running late. Nervously waiting at the gate, feeling relieved and excited as the stewardess let me pass through the final check-in. I remember the man on the airplane next to me, who poked me with his elbow each time he shifted his seating position. I was seated in the…
